Question

The number of spores in sporangium of fern is
A)16
B)32
C)64
D)128

Answer 1

Hint: An enclosure in which spores are produced is a sporangium. It may be made up of a single cell or it may be multicellular. At some stage in their life cycle, all plants, fungi, and many other lineages form sporangias.

Complete answer:
The reproductive structure on the underside of the frond is the sporangium. Every sporangium is a spore-containing capsule. A single cell is a spore. In capsules called sporangia, spores are produced. In clusters called sori, sporangia are aggregated. The spores are produced from the sporangia when they are mature. The spores germinate easily on contact with damp soil once they are released.

The number of spores per sporangium in the fern is set in each species and the maximum number of spores in the sporangium is 64.

In some fungal phyla, sporangium plays a role in asexual reproduction and may play an indirect role in sexual reproduction. The sporangium shapes and includes haploid nuclei and cytoplasm on the sporangiophore. By encasing each haploid nucleus and cytoplasm in a tough outer membrane, spores are produced in the sporangiophore.

During asexual reproduction, these spores are dispersed by wind and germinated into haploid hyphae.

Although sexual reproduction in fungi varies between phyla, sporangium plays an indirect role in sexual reproduction in some fungi.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C)

Note: Columella is a sterile (non-reproductive) structure that extends to and supports the sporangium of some species. Columella, which may be branched or unbranched, may be of fungal or host origin in fungi. The species of Secotium have a simple, unbranched columella, while the species of Cynoglossum have a branched columella.